Ramona Flowers vs Teenage Angst ft Todd Ingram
by IntergalacticVigilante
Summary: My take on how Ramona and Todd met...probably not completely accurate to the novels. My first story! *I GAVE UP ON THIS A LONG TIME AGO*
1. Chapter 1

A can rattles down the crooked sidewalk of the narrow street. A girl with shocking purple and black hair is kicking all her frustrations into Chef Boyardee's face. A few boys are skateboading nearby, flipping and twisting down the street. The girl scowls, and kicks the can so hard it flies up into the air and out of sight. The girl stops and stares into the distance, as if she were waiting for the can to boomerang back, but of course it doesn't, and it never will.

"Hey." An unfamiliar voice calls to the girl. She turns slowly. A tall boy with hair so blonde it looks almost white is standing in front of her, with concern in his eyes."Hey," the girl replies, sounding a bit distant. Her gaze flits back to the skateboarders. The boy follows her gaze.

"I heard you were dating that jerk-on-wheels Lucas."

"Not anymore," the girl replies tonelessly, as if they were talking about the most trivial of things. The boy smiles as if he heard exactly what he wanted to hear.

"Better without him though, right?"

The girl seemed to become more aware of her surroundings. "Yeah, I guess so."

The boy grins widely and asks, "So...you wanna go out with me?"

The girl looked dubious, but then she glanced back at the skateboarding boys one last time. "Sure," she says to the blonde boy.

"Sweet. My name's Todd Ingram."

"Ramona Flowers."

"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Flowers.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, do you want to come over to my place today? I just wrote a new song on my bass guitar."

Todd looked cocky and self-satisfied as he bragged to Ramona.

"You play bass?" Ramona asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Since I was twelve."

"Wow. This may sound weird, but I actually thought you were a lead guitarist kind of guy."

"Bass gives you more control. I mean, yeah, guitar is flashy, but bass is like...like more uh...you know..._dundundunduhduhduhdundun..._with like...yeah."

"...Does your song have words?"

"Yeah. I wrote them myself."

"Great."

"I'd like to think I'm pretty elegant and poetic with words."

"Well then, let's go right now."

Todd's house was a little roomier than the others on the street. The basement was finished and furnished, and the kitchen looked like it came straight from Better Homes and Gardens. It was absolutely completely silent when Todd and Ramona walked in. Ramona was ill at ease, despite the cheery surroundings,

"Hey Todd, you got any parents here or what?"

"Yeah," Todd replied, his tone bitter, "my dad. Probably out somewhere right now, though. We don't really get along." Ramona and Todd continued down the hallway, until finally stopping in front of a door, which was ordinary and almost exactly like all the other doors in the house, except for the bolt that secured it shut. Ramona looked at the bolt skeptically. "Pest control, or something?"

"Or something," Todd snorted, "more like dad control." Todd unbolted the door.

The room was decorated around a single theme- Todd's bass. Posters of bass guitars and bass guitarists covered every square inch of all four walls. The shelves were stocked with books about music theory and biographies of bass players, all the furniture was arranged in a circle around the centerpiece of the room, the bass itself.

"Wow," Ramona said, drinking in her surroundings.

"Uh, yeah, wow. Ramona, do you see these guys on the wall?" Todd gestured to the posters that loomed over the pair like guardians. "I am already better than all these guys. Except for that one. And maybe that one. But everyone else."

Ramona raised an eyebrow.

"Don't believe me? Listen to this, babe." Todd strut over to the center of the room, picked up the bass and flung a strap over his shoulder. Ramona walked to Todd's bed and sat down, cross-legged. Todd sat in one of the nearby chairs and closed his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

Todd began to pick at the strings with obvious expertise. A complicated bass line flew from his hands, his breakneck speed almost impossible.

Then Todd began to sing, _"This is a song by Todd- If you think you're better you're a fraud..."_

_ …_

A while later, Todd raised his arms up in the air, like a rock star receiving a standing ovation after playing the world's greatest song. He looked at Ramona expectantly.

"Well? Wasn't that impressive? That was frigging beastly, right?"

"Sure..." Ramona said slowly. "But uh...the lyrics could use some work...and your...pitch, maybe? And, well, the 10 minute bass solo seemed a little bit...

Todd looked wounded.

"But," Ramona put in quickly, "otherwise it was really...awesome?"

Todd stared at Ramona. "Ramona, all there _was_was bass and vocals."

"Uh..."

"So, basically, what you're saying is, the whole thing sucked?"

Ramona opened her mouth to say something, but Todd just shook his head. "You know what, babe? I'm gonna take your advice. I mean, I don't want to end up like Lucas, right?"

Ramona breathed a quiet sigh of relief. "Right." She looked at Todd with admiration. "You know what, Todd? You aren't so bad."

"Yeah, I know. I'm actually very enviable."


	4. Chapter 4

A week had passed since Todd had asked Ramona out. In that week, they had slit the tires of a car, dumped the contents of about twenty garbage cans into the street, broken five windows and threw a party in an old abandoned house. Only two people were invited. Both of them showed up.

It was fun.

Now Todd and Ramona were walking down the street, looking extremely annoyed at the world, and all who inhabit it. Todd glanced at Ramona's hair, which had faded from purple and black to gray and lavender.

"Your hair looks nice," he said, looking but not touching, "like a sort of mellow...uh, spring-ish...like, uh..."

Ramona raised an eyebrow.

"Well," Todd, rushed in, "I mean your hair has got this sort of...thing. Going on. It's good."

Ramona laughed. "Thanks, Todd, I was gonna re-dye it soon, but if you like it I can hold out for a while."

Todd, who had looked kind of embarrassed before, now looked reassured.

There was a pregnant pause.

"Do you wanna make out?" Todd asked expectantly. Ramona smiled.

"You know what?" she began, sounding sleazy, "That old abandoned house is only about two blocks from here."

Todd grinned. "Perfect."


	5. Chapter 5

A few days later, Todd and Ramona found themselves screaming at each other. It was highly unusual for them; usually they agreed with each other on everything. But now, in the middle of the street, they were loud enough to be heard three streets over.

"What, you don't want me anymore?" Todd's eyes narrowed, his usual smug expression had contorted into a scowl.

"I just...I just think it's wrong, Todd!" Ramona's fists balled at her sides.

"So, it was right when we destroyed stuff? What's your PROBLEM, this isn't any different."

"But no one got HURT, when we did that crap, this is _completely_ different!"

"He was ticking me off, Ramona!"

"So you toss him over your shoulder with your brain powers? What a way to solve your issues,

Todd."

"Scientifically, it's called Psyc-"

"WHATEVER!"

"God, would you calm down? You've been acting like such a-"

"SHUT UP." Ramona looked like she was about to cry. She fought back tears, and tried to remember the last time she got this upset. She couldn't. Ramona looked down at the ground, gathering words. She took a breath, and looked up at Todd's eyes. "I don't know if we can make this work any more."

Todd rolled his eyes. "Well, we can talk about it tomorrow, or whatever."

…

Ramona stood by the curb, once again staring at the skaters. Todd had been gone for two weeks, with no explanation. The last time she had seen him was when they had argued in the street.

Todd Ingram was a vegan, which apparently gives one psychic powers.

Ramona had one day stumbled upon Todd arguing with a stranger. The stranger seemed to be trying to convince Todd of something, but Todd didn't want to hear it.

Todd had held his arm out towards the stranger, a strange green haze surrounding his arm. Ramona watched as the man was launched up into the air and on the ground behind Todd.

Ramona ran out to the man.

"Don't touch him, Ramona." Todd stood in place, the haze still swirling eerily around him, illuminating his green eyes. Ramona looked at the man.

She stood up and walked away, from both the man and Todd. Before she had gone too far, she stopped and turned. She looked at Todd inquiringly.

"Hey, baby, I'm a vegan!" He grinned.

Ramona had turned back and walked away, trying to make sense of what she just saw.

The day after, they had gotten into the argument.

Now Ramona was confused, alone, and late for school. Maybe she could make it if she ran.

She wasn't in the mood. One of the skateboarders had stopped and was watching her as she stood. She cast a grimace at him, causing him to fall off his skateboard.

She would go do school, but she would take her time getting there.


End file.
